The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
In the past few decades, drum triggers have increasingly been used with acoustic drums for live performances and studio recordings. In many instances, drum triggers can overcome potential problems with using microphones and can allow a drummer to have more control over the sound of the drum. In effect, the addition of a drum trigger to an acoustic drum converts the acoustic drum to an electric drum pad.
There are several existing varieties of drum triggers. A first type of prior art drum trigger involves a tension arm that is mounted on the rim of a drum using a lug or clamp mount mechanism. For this type of drum trigger, a tension arm attached to the rim of the drum puts pressure on the trigger and places the trigger in contact with the head of the drum. This has several undesirable effects. First, this puts stress on the head of the drum thereby deforming the drum head. This affects the tonal quality of the drum and changes the sound produced by the drum head. Second, the tension applies unnecessary force to the trigger and can cause it to fail because of the mechanical stress placed on the trigger. Third, when the drum is struck, and the drum head vibrates, the trigger will not be in constant contact with the drum head. This can cause problems including double triggering of the trigger. Fourth, the location of the trigger is limited to a position near the rim of the drum. Fifth, the trigger is susceptible to movement and requires frequent re-adjustment. Problems with the position and mechanical issues with the trigger can occur in a few as 150-300 strikes of the drum head, and the majority of prior art triggers begin to suffer from degrading performance beginning with the first strike of the drum. The degrading performance may take the form of a decreased voltage output, noticeable as a decreased amplitude of the output voltage wave, and may also include increases in non-triggering or double triggering. Additionally, the piezoelectric transducer commonly used in these triggers may begin to degrade or wear out quickly because it is placed in high-stress direct contact with the drum head. The very design of prior art triggers causes the triggers to suffer from the aforementioned problems.
This type of tension arm trigger is also difficult to install and configure. The tension arm trigger requires exact tension be placed on the trigger itself to keep the trigger in constant contact with a drum head. This type of installation is finicky and requires expertise or trial-and-error to install correctly. The prior art triggers also require considerable configuration at a drum module. A drum module is an electronic device that interprets an input and produces as an output a sound or other electronic output. A plurality of drum modules, their specifications and methods of operation are described hereinbelow. For prior art triggers, the drum module will need to specifically tuned to not only the type of trigger, but the manner in which the trigger is installed and the type of instrument on which the trigger is installed. The configuration must also take into account other external conditions at the time of configuration. The exact same trigger may need different configuration settings each time the trigger is set up for use.
Many external drum triggers are top rim mounted, but these suffer from the described defects. For example, top rim triggers are bulky and may get in the way of a drummer's performance. One way to overcome this defect is to install the drum trigger on the drum head. U.S. Pat. No. 7,259,317 to Hsien describes an external drum trigger that can be added to a drumhead and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. However, the drum trigger described in Hsein suffers from numerous drawbacks. First, installation of the drumhead in Hsein requires a hole to be created in the drumhead, which permanently damages the drum. Second, the drumhead in Hsein requires a foam buffer, which can decrease the sensitivity of the drum trigger and result in a degradation in response as it is applied to larger drums. U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,473 to Adinolfi describes a drum trigger incorporated into the rim of a drum and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. However, the drum trigger described in Adinolfi is undesirable because it requires the purchase of a completely new drum. Because of this, in many instances external or add-on drum triggers are more favorable.
Another type of prior art drum trigger is a pad installed trigger. Typically these triggers are glued using an epoxy or adhesive to a plate on the underside of a rubber or silicone drum pad. These triggers suffer from problems including a loss of velocity, double triggering, and frequent mechanical failure. The drum pad triggers that incorporate piezoelectric triggers prevent the piezoelectric trigger from functioning properly because the piezoelectric trigger cannot flex properly. The adhesive and solid plate the trigger is disposed on force the trigger to remain rigid and essentially cause the trigger to function as a contact microphone instead of as a proper trigger. Drum triggers may also be glued or otherwise adhered to a drum head directly without an intervening plate or pad. However, this method of attachment is undesirable because it permanently attaches the trigger to the drum head and puts undue stress on the trigger itself.
Additional information about problems that exist with prior art triggers and methods for installing, configuring, and using prior art drum triggers can be found in Norman Weinberg, Tweaking For Touch: The Electronic Trigger, Drum! Magazine, June 2011, and in Mike Snyder, Don't Pull That Trigger!, Drum! Magazine, November 2013, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The function and operation of piezoelectric transducers and the piezoelectric effect is well known in the art. A description of the functioning of a piezoelectric transducer can be found in the article Piezoelectric Trasnsducers, NDT Resource Center, https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Ultrasonics/EquipmentTrans/piezotransducers.htm, accessed Jan. 5, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Additional information on piezoelectric transducers can be found in the article What's a Transducer?, APC International, LTD, https://www.americanpiezo.com/piezo-theory/whats-a-transducer.html, accessed Jan. 5, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Detail on the mechanics and function of piezoelectric transducers can be found in the article Introduction to Piezo Transducers, Piezo Systems, Inc., http://www.piezo.com/tech2intropiezotrans.html, accessed Jan. 5, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
All extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Thus, there is a need for improved drum triggers that do not require modification of the drums and that may be releaseably attached at a variety of locations. Additionally there is a need for an improved drum trigger that may be used with a plurality of drum triggers on a single instrument without cross-talk interference or hot-spotting.